(5 July 2006 7:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Mobile firm Nokia has announced a new commercial DVB-H pilot in Stockholm with Teracom in Sweden. Nokia is supplying the Nokia Mobile Broadcast System 3.0 and Nokia N92 mobile TV devices to the pilot which will last from October to December 2006 and includes 400 consumers. The project is a co-operation between ATG, Boxer, Nokia, Sveriges Radio, Sveriges Television/UR, Telenor and Teracom.

The pilot participants will be able to watch 14 TV channels and listen to four radio channels in the Stockholm city region, where a network has been built for high quality indoor and outdoor coverage. The objective is to evaluate what Swedish consumers think about commercial broadcast mobile TV and thus gauge market potential.

ATG, Boxer, Sveriges Radio and Sveriges Television will provide content for the pilot. The test will be delivered using Nokia Mobile Broadcast Solution 3.0, and the pilot participants will use mobile devices from Nokia, the Nokia N92. Teracom will be responsible for the network, the broadcast and operating of the platform.

Fore the uninitiated DVB-H technology complements existing operator networks, optimising capacity and quality. It offers consumers the chance to enjoy high quality terrestrial digital broadcasts along with voice telephony and internet access all in a single device. Broadcast mobile TV will offer new business opportunities for mobile service providers, content and broadcast companies, infrastructure and handset manufacturers as well as technology providers.

The feedback from different mobile TV pilots has been promising. Results from pilots on broadcast (DVB-H) mobile TV services among consumers in Finland, the UK, Spain and France have revealed clear consumer demand for such services as well as important indications over future business models for commercial mobile TV services.